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In-house Design

Our team is able to work with you to produce unique and exclusive designs in knitwear, knit and crochet toys, leather handbags, recyclable plastic handbags, and a large variety of accessories and home decor. We have access to a wide variety of raw materials and work with some of the most skilled artisans in Bolivia to create high quality pieces.

We recommend that clients who do not want to get involved in the actual design of products be in touch with a freelance designer we have been working with for over 15 years: Francesca Basilico. Francesca specializes in the design of baby and children’s knits and crochet toys; she has also successfully worked with us to realize women’s and men’s knitwear designs.

For over 20 years Francesca Basilico has been an entrepreneur and innovator.  Her unique vision and trend leading design aesthetic have placed her among the elite in children’s wear industry. After a liberal arts education, she followed her true passion with coursework at Parsons School of Design in design and pattern making and began her career in the fashion industry. Partnering with her mother, she started Stria, a Private Label blouse manufacturing company where she was responsible for all aspects of the technical production. In 1994, moving away from the private label industry she decided to start her own children’s wear company.  This time, Francesca focused her creative energy on knitwear. Drawing on the inspiration of timeless European designs that her grandmothers knit for her as a child, she started i golfini della nonna (Grandmother’s Little Sweaters).  She built a brand that deeply resonated with young mothers looking for old world detail energized by contemporary color palette and wear ability. In 2001, she created the perfect compliment to its cleverly designed clothing:  a series of whimsical hand knit toys that included alpaca stuffed animals, cotton toys and interactive crocheted finger puppets. In addition to her own line of toys and clothes, today Francesca’s business includes end-to-end product, design, and manufacturing for a variety of clients including Erica Tanov, Flora & Henri, and Dosa. She continues to travel frequently to Bolivia where she has been working with the same women’s fair trade cooperative for 17 years, AHA Bolivia. Francesca’s and i golfini della nonna’s commitment to a sustainable and ethical fashion practice has helped employ over 300 talented indigenous women. Francesca is available for freelance design work as well as consulting. Please email her at francesca@golfini.com.


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